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Section 2: Project COMPOSITION: Research Point: Negative spaces.

The use of the Negative Space in art fascinates me - I think specifically of Paul Gaugin who used it very effectively in his paintings:
In his Vision of the Sermon the fabulous use of the bold, red, negative space speaks volumes about the atmosphere of the painting and draws our attention over the heads of the Breton maids and fixes it on the scene of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Here Gaugin uses the negative space as a focal point as well as a device which arouses our emotions gives voice to an unusual view of the imagined impact of a sermon on the Breton woman.
Guagin, Paul. The Vision after the Sermon. (online) [available from: https://www.gauguingallery.com/biography-developing-as-gauguin.aspx]

Gaugin, Paul. Portrait of Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers c1889. (online) [available from: https://www.gauguingallery.com/biography-developing-as-gauguin.aspx]

In his Portrait of Van Gogh paiting sunflowers, Gaugin creates a wonderful tension between the artist and his canvas with the use of the negative space. The bold yellow, blue and green bands pull us from artist to canvas and back again.

Artist's who use negative shapes creatively in their work:
Hume, G. 1998 Serith. (online) [available from: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gary-hume-2403]


Da Franca, Henrique. (online) [available from https://mymodernmet.com/negative-space-art/]

I like this. The large , overwhelming white space lends a feeling of vulnerability to the figures.

These artists use Negative spaces as a device: it seems to me to be contrived and gimicky but has an interesting and whimisical appeal, nonetheless.
Tang Yua Hoong. (online) [available from: 
 https://mymodernmet.com/negative-space-art/]
Fukuda, Shigeo. (online) [Available from: https://mymodernmet.com/negative-space-art/]

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